US and UK to announce deal to reduce tariffs

Downing Street says Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will make an announcement about a deal with the US on tariffs later today.

"The Prime Minister will always act in Britain's national interest - for workers, for business, for families," a No10 spokesperson said.

The UK government has been seeking an agreement to lower tariffs since President Donald Trump imposed them on almost every country in the world last month.

President Trump appeared to allude to the agreement when he posted on social media on Wednesday night, saying he would announced a "major trade deal" with a a "highly respected country".

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On 2 April, Trump announced steep tariffs on dozens of trading partners, before announcing a 90-day pause on the levies.

Governments from around the world have been scrambling to strike deals with Washington before the new deadline passes.

The US has left a 10% global tariff in place, which included the UK, though the long-time ally of America was not subject to the administration's higher "reciprocal" tariffs.

The UK is also subject to a 25% US import tax on steel, aluminium and cars.

Washington is close to agreeing trade deals with India and Israel, according to reports.

The administration is also continuing talks with several other countries including Japan, South Korea and Vietnam.

Trump has said he wants nations to strike new deals with the US as he tries to radically reshape the global trading system.

This week the US and China announced that their top trade officials will start talks to try to de-escalate a dispute between the world's two biggest economies.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will attend the talks in Switzerland from 9 to 12 May, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer will represent Washington at the meeting, their offices announced.

Since returning to the White House, Trump has imposed new import taxes on Chinese goods of up to 145%. Beijing has hit back with levies on some goods from the US of 125%.

It will be the first high-level interaction between the two countries since Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng attended Trump's inauguration in January.

But global trade experts have told the BBC that they expect negotiations to take several months.

Seperately, the UK and India agreed to a trade deal earlier this week which will make it easier for UK firms to export whisky, cars and other products to India, and cut taxes on India's clothing and footwear exports.